Muscogee Nation announces new casino in Coweta
KOSU | By Cait Kelley
The Muscogee Nation announced plans to break ground in September on a $100 million casino in Coweta.
The 35,000-square-foot casino will include a hotel with 46 upscale rooms, a pool, a fitness center and more, according to officials. The new casino and hotel will create 250 new jobs.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Coweta had a population of almost 11,000 in 2023 and is the second-fastest growing city in the Tulsa metropolitan area.
The Coweta Casino Hotel is expected to open in spring 2026.
AS-IA Bryan Newland highlights Indian Country investments at The Gathering Business Summit
Written by Rachael Schuit
(CHOCTAW NATION) The Gathering Business Summit, dedicated to supporting Indian Country business, entrepreneurship, and economic development, boasted two days of industry and government leaders this year, including a keynote speech by Assistant Secretary - Interior Affairs Bryan Newland.
Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, kicked things off by highlighting the historic $45 billion investment into Tribal communities by the Biden-Harris Administration.
“This money means high speed internet in our community for people who want to start businesses or operate businesses online or live at home and work remotely for companies or Tribes across the country,” Newland said. “It means new school construction, Boys and Girls clubs–all sorts of things.”
Newland also emphasized the growth of the Buy Indian Act, noting the Department of the Interior has increased procurement from Indian-owned firms by more than $1 billion per year.
“When this administration came into office, the Department of the Interior was purchasing about $300 million in goods and services from Indian-owned firms,” Newland said. “We, for the first time, put new regulations in effect to facilitate the Buy Indian ACT Program here at the Department of the Interior.”
Additionally, Newland discussed the 105 (l) lease program under the Indian Self Determination Education and Assistance Act, which supports economic development and entrepreneurship in Indian Country. This program allows Tribal Entities to receive funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for infrastructure costs related to building essential facilities like schools and healthcare centers.
He also offered an optimistic view of the future for Indian Country.
“We have a lot of really, really talented people in our communities,” Newland said. “Brilliant kids in our schools who can really come up with the next startup…the next advancement in medical technology, but who don't get the opportunity to see the field because, too often, every day, they're just trying to survive. So, my vision for the future of economic development in Indian Country is to create that baseline…so those really talented people in our communities can see the field.”
Newland also fielded questions live at the conference, including one from Native Strategies CEO and President Steven Hollabaugh about water quality and transportation initiatives.
Newland said they have been working with the Federal Highways Administration Department of Transportation to make sure that the funds that Congress has appropriated in infrastructure law can get spent on things like new bridges in Indian Country and redesigning culverts and roads in some dangerous areas.
“We do have some focused initiatives on water quality in a few places with funding that's been provided through some of these laws that I've mentioned,” Newland said. “One of the places we've done this, for example, is with the Hopi tribe. Helping them to complete the arsenic mitigation program there so that they have drinking water in their communities that is free of the arsenic that occurs in a lot of the shallow aquifers there. We also partner with the Indian Health Service, which does a lot of the drinking water sanitation facilities, and make sure that our process isn't slowing them down.”
The Gathering Business Summit is held each year by the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma. In addition to presentations and panels, the event also included a free Gathering Trade Show, B2B matchmaking, and a variety of other networking opportunities.
Learn more at https://aiccok.org/events/business-summit/
Native Commerce News is sponsored by the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma (AICCO), dedicated to expanding Indian Country commerce across the globe.
Chickasaw joins international cliff diving series
Kaylea Arnett is making a splash across the globe as a part of an elite world series tour in cliff diving.
Arnett, Las Vegas, is competing in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, an annual international multi-city tour competition. Arnett has the distinction of being the only woman in the world to perform the reverse triple pike dive, a skill that earned her a place on the world diving platform.
“I'm very excited to endeavor,” Arnett recently told CNTV.
Arnett, a Chickasaw citizen, who has been diving since she was 8 years old, was invited to compete as a wild card diver at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series stop in Boston.
“You have to be invited as a wild card diver. You show up for the very first time, and if you're able to do really well or wow the people, then they invite you to do more stops.”
Arnett did indeed wow the crowd and earned a silver medal in her first competition.
“They invited me to do the whole rest of the season for the year, which is great news,” she said.
Cliff diving is an elite extreme sport and the ultimate display of focus and skill, according to RedBullCliffDiving.com. As a sport, cliff diving originated in the 1700s in Hawaii. The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series was launched in 2009.
During the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, 12 men and 12 women, eight permanent divers, and up to four wild cards in each category, compete at every event to earn maximum championship points. Divers are from across the globe, including Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy and the United States.
Tour stops include some of the most picturesque locations in the world.
“Sometimes we have platforms that they build for us and sometimes we dive directly off the cliff face,” Arnett explained. “Sometimes we jump out of balconies, depending on what stop we’re at. The women jump from 21 meters (about 70 feet), and the men jumped from 27 meters, which is very, very high, but I don't look down so it's OK,” Arnett chuckled.
Divers are judged by a panel on their technique, acrobatics and artistic moves during the dive. At the end of the season a champion is crowned in the women's and men's categories and awarded the King Kahekili trophy, as well as a winner's prize fund.
During her diving career, Arnett has competed at every level and was recently a performer in the acclaimed Cirque du Soleil “O” production at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
She said transitioning to cliff diving was not too difficult.
“Once you get over the fear of how high it is, it's just like traditional diving. That's the foundation. All you have to do is land on your feet instead of your head,” she said.
The event consists of four rounds of diving, and final scores are based on an overall total.
“I usually pick my four best dives, of course, the one that I'm most comfortable doing, and all I have to do is add half an extra flip.”
Arnett is a crowd favorite at the competition, dancing on the platform before she flings herself off of it, executing twists, somersaults and flips before landing feet first in the water traveling at speeds close to 50 mph.
“It's better to not overthink with things like this,” she said. “I find that I used to overthink in college when I did 10-meter diving. I would really get in my head, and I found a way to get through that. Now I'm able to do 21 meters with no issue whatsoever. I just count 1-2-3 go.”
Arnett’s first Red Bull competition in Boston, June 8 was thrilling, she said.
“There were 30,000 people that showed up to watch the competition, and it was just electric. I definitely take that energy from the audience, but I try not to let any of that affect me.”
Her bubbly personality shines through during competitions, making it clear she is having a great time, doing what she loves.
“It's good to keep things loose and keep things fun. It reminds me not to take it too seriously, because there was a time back in the day that competing took the fun out of diving for me. It was too much pressure. I wasn't getting the results that I wanted, and it just became not fun anymore,” Arnett said.
Nevertheless, she persisted, taking a break from competing to become a performer.
“So, I found a way. Doing shows made diving really fun for me again because there was no pressure, and I learned all these new skills. I've learned how to take that with me into this new competition world.”
Arnett took her fun-first perspective to the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, last February and led the U.S. women with a fourth-place finish in 20-meter-high diving. It was her international high diving competition debut.
The Qatar performance prompted the wild card invitation from Red Bull.
“They were very impressed with what I did at World Championships. Something special that I do is a dive that no other person in the world does. I’m the only woman in the world to do this dive, and I debuted it at the World Championships.”
Preparing for the competition, she spent countless hours practicing the reverse triple pike dive.
“Really, it wasn't great, but I decided to throw it in the meet anyway. My competitive spirit just took over, and I nailed the dive, and this just wowed everybody.”
Arnett maintains a competitive spirit, but it has morphed. She focuses on the task at hand and keeps it simple and fun.
“I don't want to lose that fun again, so I've learned how to make competing fun again.”
Arnett, 31, is having fun and making waves on the international diving scene.
“My first stop was in Boston, that's where I got my first trophy. They've now invited me to Polignano a Mare, Italy, it's just above the heel of Italy,” she told CNTV before the June 30 competition.
“I've never actually been to Italy or many of the places that are on the world series, so I'm very excited to do some traveling and of course diving.”
Arnett earned a second-place finish in Italy, where the divers dove into the Adriatic Sea. The event announcer described her as a “fantastic competitor.”
“She is the only woman in the world to perform a reverse triple pike, a very difficult dive to get the rotation going and maintain it in the air. It is not easy,” said Red Bull diving commentator Joey Zuber.
The tour also has stops in Causeway Coast, Northern Ireland; Oslo, Norway; Montreal, Canada; and Antalya, Turkey. The final stop is Sydney, Australia Nov. 10.
Arnett said she was very excited to travel and see new places.
“I'm so happy that diving has brought me around the world to these amazing places. I finally get to see Europe.”
She said she is eagerly anticipating the cliff diving at the varied locations.
“I'm excited, because all of these different venues are insane. I'm going to have to be diving into waves and oceans. I'll be going to Northern Ireland. I'm sure that's going to be freezing but amazing. I'm just excited to have these experiences all with diving.”
Arnett is just the second wild card diver in the 15-year Red Bull competition history to place, or podium, in the first two competitions.
She said along with the cliff diving competition, additional World Aquatics Championships will keep her busy the rest of the year.
“I definitely need to focus on staying healthy, not getting injured and staying strong to make it through this long season of the World Aquatics Championships and the Red Bull Cliff Diving Championships.”
Through the years, Arnett has garnered multiple awards, including a diving scholarship to Virginia Tech. She earned gold medals at the USA Diving National Championships as well as numerous other events. She qualified for the 2012 Olympic diving trials. At 10 years old, she was the youngest diver to qualify for the U.S. team and competed at the Junior Pan American Games in Brazil, earning a bronze medal. She was twice named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Women’s Diver of the Year and earned ACC Most Valuable Diver Award three times while at Virginia Tech.
Visit RedBullCliffDiving.com for updates on the competition.
Jim Thorpe's historical Oklahoma home sold back to family
The Oklahoma Historical Society announced Monday it has sold Jim Thorpe’s former home to his grandchildren through the Thorpe Family Foundation. The home is located in Yale and Thorpe bought it in 1917 and lived there until 1923.
Thorpe was a famous multisport Oklahoman athlete and a member of the Sac and Fox Nation. He was the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal, winning two gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics — one for the classic pentathlon and one for the decathlon. Though his medals were revoked for breaking the amateur competitor rules of the time, they were eventually restored to him after his death.
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden awarded Thorpe the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Oklahoma Historical Society had owned the home since 1968, but it said over the years deferred maintenance issues had piled up.
According to OHS, Thorpe’s grandchildren became interested in the home last year.
